Surrender

What does surrendering to God's will mean to me?

It means choosing to obey Him, and his commands even when it's hard or even when I don't want to.

What does disobeying God's will tend to do for your life?

For me, it could prolong blessings, make matters worse, or flat out change the outcome of generations.

In this blog I'd like to compare and contrast the outcomes of two men whose surrender to God looked completely different.

First, let's start with Jonah.

As some of us know, in the book of Jonah God commanded Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against it. (v.2)

Jonah responded with an attempt to flee from God and his command. In doing this, he put the lives of many innocent men at risk because God sent a strong wind to sea and a violent storm arose against the ship Jonah was on.(v.3-4)

From there, Jonah commanded the men to throw him overboard and the Lord provided a big fish to swallow him. Inside the belly of the fish is where he stayed for three days and three nights. (v.12,17) 

Later, Jonah went on to pray to the Lord, and once released from the fish he decided to do what the Lord commanded him to do.(ch.2 & 3)

Ultimately, the Lord's work was done and the people of Nineveh were saved.


Now, let's look at Jesus. Moments after the last supper before his arrest, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives to pray.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Luke 22:42 NIV

Those were the words our Savior spoke to our Father.

How beautiful?

In spite of the anguish, grief, or anxiety, he must have felt in that moment knowing he was about to die, He still wanted and chose the Father's will over his own.

How selfless?

How brave?

Has surrendering to God's will ever been hard for you? If so, how did you respond?

Did you fight tooth and nail or did you willingly give into the will of the Father?

For myself, I've been on both sides of that fence, and although hard, surrendering willingly comes with a sense of peace that's unmatched.

I believe surrendering to God's will for your life is by far the hardest and most fulfilling thing you'll ever do but you'll never regret it.

Photo by: Kai Bell